Team USA Men Take on Cairo

Today was the men’s qualification for World Cup #1. 90 athletes from all over the world were competing working towards gaining valuable Olympic Ranking points. With three groups today, the top 12 advance to the semifinals. Team USA had three athletes competing, looking to advance to the semis.

Brendan Anderson was the lone Team USA athlete in group A with fencing as the first event. Brendan had some good victories including one against an Olympic Medalist. But unfortunately had some missed opportunities which caused some losses. His total score of 194 put him in 25th place for the event. Next up was the swimming event. Swimming out of heat 3, Brendan swam the 11th fastest time in the group, 2:11.06. With that swim, he was able to move up a couple of places in the overall standings. Heading into the laser run, Brendan was sitting in 21st place. Brendan had a strong run and great shoot, getting all 4 series completed in a total time of 46seconds. His time of 10:36 was the 7th fastest of the group which allowed him to pass some athletes and finish in 16th place overall in his group.

Group C had Tristen Bell and Caleb Allen. They started their day with the swimming event. Both swam almost equal times, with Tristen swimming a 2:11.34 and Caleb swimming a 2:11.66. Their times were the 18th and 19th fastest times in the group. The fencing event was next and both Tristen and Caleb struggled to find their rhythm. They had some good moments, but mistakes caused a handful of defeats. Tristen ended the fence with 173 points which was 27th place for the event. Caleb’s score of 166 points put him in 28th place for the group. Before the laser run, Tristen was in 26th place and Caleb was in 27th place. A solid shoot and solid run helped Tristen to a 15th ranked time of 11:03, allowing him to move up to finish in 25th place overall. Caleb’s time of 12:24 caused him to lose one spot to finish in 28th place for the group.
Even though no men made the semifinal, they stilled earned some Olympic ranking points to add to their total. Next up for Team USA will be the mixed relay with Mary Zoldak and Caleb Allen teaming up to compete against some of the top teams in the world. GO TEAM USA!!!